This isn’t a coffee shop.  It is a wine bar that happens to serve great food.  It is tidy – one might say tiny.  Most of the seating is at three sides of a square-shaped bar.  Many of the customers are regulars, presumably living in the condo building Mulberry resides in.

After having appetizers and cheese at he bar, I ordered a cappuccino.  Presentation was perfect, right down to the sugar cubes.

Just don’t forget to order the “Devils on Horseback” as well. Trust me.  Yelp doesn’t lie.

The Fell’s Point location of Pitango Gelato has it all – location, history, brick sidewalks, amazing gelato… and coffee.

The feel of this place was so good we came back for a second visit – on a 4 day trip.  I had to take a picture of the gelato as well – but trust me, the lattes and mochas are also top-notch.

Monkey Nest is located along a revitalized Burnett Road corridor in Austin, TX.  This area has been a tough-luck area for retailers in the past, but over the last 10 years, it has been gradually getting spruced up.  New shopping centers, mixed-use development, and refurbished store fronts have made a big difference.  This section of town, in my mind, is anchored by an Amy’s Ice Cream and Phil’s Ice House to the north, and Torchy’s Tacos and Blue Star Cafeteria to the south.

Monkey Nest, inbetween, looks to be trying to be a “third place” – seating is plentiful.  The coffee is good too.  However, I did make the mistake of trying the Monkey Spicey Mocha.  A sip or two is great, but this is a bridge to far, spice-wise, for a full drink.  I wanted to drink a gallon of water by the time I was halfway done.  A bit too heavy on the cayenne!

The straight up mocha is a better choice.  Yelp reviews are generally positive, which is a good sign this far into their tenure on Burnett.

A cousin took us to Barefoot Coffee on a recent visit to the Bay Area.  It is hidden in a nondescript shopping center in Santa Clara, like so many good coffee shops and restaurants in California.  But as soon as you step up to the sidewalk you see good signs – people sitting at round tables outside, sipping coffee and talking, relaxing in the cool weather.  Inside, it is  clearly a coffee aficionado’s dream come true.  There are bags of coffee beans along one wall, and a bar for ordering specialty drinks.

I tried the Cubano – the sugar is caramelized in the shot itself.  I still had to sweeten it a bit for my taste, but it was damn good. Comes complete with coffee art.

Two of our party ordered the Caramel Brulee – a drink with caramelized sugar on top (blow torch and all).  Two thumbs up.

Finally, I had to buy a bag of the Honey Edlyna.  I didn’t know what a honey process is, but I wanted to find out.  Thanks to Google, I found this video that explains it a bit, but this article on barista exchange does it one better.  There’s a lighter color mixed in with the normal color of the roasted beans, and it sticks a bit to the scoop once you grind it up.  I’m assuming this is a byproduct of the honey processing.  I didn’t realize it was going to be $18 when I picked it up.  A bit pricey.  But the smell of this coffee is nearly worth the price.  I ground it this morning, filling the kitchen with the smell, and made it with a french press.  Worth every penny.  But if you’re on a budget, check the prices first.

Barefoot gets my recommendation.  Ratings are high on yelp – especially considering it is in California.

Update: Since the first french press, I also tried this as Vietnamese drip with condensed milk (just a little), and french press with condensed milk, and french press with a little skim milk and sugar.  I can’t decide which is my favorite but it is hard to go wrong with a strong french press brew.

I ordered a latte and, because I need to cut down the bitterness of coffee a bit more than that, added two brown sugar packets.  And that latte was perfect, espresso art and all.

But it turns out that’s not all.  After my colleague and I each raved about our Handsome coffee, I got back to the office and not long after, saw this tweet from Phil Gilbert:

RT @1shot4theroad: first @handsomeroaster is on dieline and now @dinnerpartydnld ! my nerd life goals are complete... publicradio.org/columns/dinner…

—
Phil Gilbert (@philgilbertsr) January 07, 2012

And so it turns out Phil is involved in the Handsome Coffee Roasters project. Kudos to these guys for serving up great product, and for Houndstooth for consistently impressing me with their coffee (no matter what I order).  If they aren’t serving it as one of the espresso options when you get there, you can always buy a bag of the Handsome Coffee beans to take with you.

When we celebrated my parents’ 50th anniversary at Perry’s, I snapped a picture of the dessert trio and a Cappuccino.  Both were excellent, and you won’t be disappointed.  (And for dinner, I’d recommend the pork chop)

Cappuccino

Yelp Reviews are pretty positive, as of this writing (4.5 stars).

We had our New Year’s Eve dinner, followed by dessert… and coffee!  For dessert, I had this excellent cafe mocha:

Mocha at Agua Azul

Like most restaurants in Costa Rica – you might not go there for the espresso, but you shouldn’t be afraid to order it.

If you want a double nonfat mocha, no problem – it will be more subtle than a typical Starbucks drink, with more espresso flavor coming through.  If you want to try something different, they have a variety of coffees and roasts available, and will help you navigate the options.  In other words, you don’t just order espresso, you select a specific espresso bean on their menu (though, if you order a mocha, you might not notice the difference).  I’d compare it a bit to consulting a sommelier, you’ll get more information than you really need to make a choice, but the richer descriptions give you a deeper context to the coffee you’re drinking.

Cafe Mocha @ Houndstooth

Houndstooth is well located in a new shopping center that also sports a Taco Deli (best tacos in Texas) and Floyd’s 99 barbershop, as well as Uchiko, the little sister of Austin’s favorite sushi destination, Uchi. I think the following picture from their site tells you a lot about the origins of Houndstooth:

Prepping for the Opening

Houndstooth carries coffee from three (at least) roasters:

Counter Culture

Cuvee – local Austin roaster since 1998.

Intelligentsia

Of course, it should go without saying that you can get a variety of espresso drinks, as well as french press, pour over, or siphon.  I haven’t been disappointed yet, and I’ve been back to Houndstooth more than a dozen times now.  One of the Yelp Reviews seems to agree with me, giving it 5 stars:

Part of it is the rotation of espresso roasts so you can get something slightly different every time.  Part of it is their meticulous attention to detail.  Part of it is the beautiful (and I’ve heard very expensive) custom La Marzocco machine.  Sean takes his coffee seriously, and it’s evident in everything that Houndstooth does.

No argument from me.

After a long hike in the Manuel Antonio park, we were starving and really enjoyed our meal (heavy on the fruit).  And this Mocha kept me going the rest of the morning:

Marlins Cafe Mocha

Cafe Mocha @ Cafe Milagro

In Manuel Antonio (and another in Quepos), there is a fantastic little placed called Cafe Milagro.  They’ve been roasting since 1994, and serving coffee and espresso nearly as long.  If you frequent the location in Manuel Antonio you’re likely to run into the bilingual proprietors (originally hailing from Colorado).  The shop has a nice patio in front and back.  The front is nice for watching people walk by, with frequent interruptions from tour vans and cars.  The back patio is surprisingly secluded and green, you’d hardly know the main road was just on the other side of the restaurant.  The wait staff were incredibly understanding of the challenges of eating with small children, and would frequently stop by to distract our kids as we were waiting for food, or as the kids were waiting on their parents to finish.

Back to the coffee.  Cafe Milagro has several different roasts, and they sell ground coffee as well as whole bean… but they also make delicious espresso drinks, hot and cold.

Another Morning's Latte

The food at Cafe Milagro is better than you’d expect, especially breakfast.  Like most places in Costa Rica you can get fresh fruit galore, and juices that you (or your kids) will love.

I took home a bag of the Quince 15-year anniversary roast, and a bag of espresso beans.  The Quince roast has made for a fine French press several times already.  It is strong, but not too bitter when prepared this way.

Never fear: you don’t have to travel all the way to Costa Rica to try it out, if you’re willing to pay $10 (flat rate) shipping and handling to have it shipped to you.